Zitkala Sa / Impressions of an Indian Childhood

     "I hate the paleface that makes my mother cry!"  I think that about sums up Sa's feelings about the white men who ultimately grind her heritage into dust.  The recollection of Sa's childhood is a powerful one and it gave me a little more insight into the role the "paleface" played in the conformity of the Native Americans.
     I love how Sa and her mother were so peaceful and content living in the wigwam and inviting fellow tribesmen to come and eat and tell stories.  I also enjoyed "The Coffee-Making" snippet. This short recollection tells of an "old grandfather" that stops by Sa's wigwam for a brief respite.  Sa knows that she should welcome him and make him coffee.  She does just that (but she uses old coffee grounds and creates a "muddy warm water").  The old grandfather accepts her hospitality.  When mother returns, the elders sort of laugh together (not in a condescending way).  "But neither she nor the warrior, whom the law of our custom had compelled to partake of my insipid hospitality, said anything to embarrass me."  I believe the previous quote speaks volumes on the Native American culture.  Native Americans are truly a 'family' with customs, traditions, and laws that strengthen their heritage.
     Enter whitey!!!!!  Sa's older brother had gone East and was educated by the white man.  When Dawee returned, "his coming back influenced my mother to take a farther step from her native way of living."  Mother is still continuously cursing the "paleface" and yet, she starts to slowly conform.  (I don't think she sees this in herself - she is very emotional and blames the "paleface" for the death of her other daughter and her brother).  Sa wants to attend the school in the East and her mother is reluctant to let her go.  Sa ends up going East and thriving as a student.  She realizes her heritage and customs are being systematically deleted from her and her fellow Indians.  Through the cutting of their hair and the suppression of their native language, these young Indians are being molded into what the white man sees as the 'perfect American citizen' (ironic, right?).  It all boils down to control and conformity on the part of the white man.  White-boy egos always get in the way of growth and acceptance.  Sa realizes all of this later in life.  I believe she is grateful for her Education, but she had to sacrifice so much of herself to attain it.  Education vs. heritage/culture???  It shouldn't have been a choice.  It should have been a partnership.